Drapery hanger



July 19, 1966 H. GALLAND DRAPERY HANGER Filed Sept. 4, 1964 FIG. 2.

Flel.

FI6.4. Fla. 5.

INVENTOR. ADA wm/vp H. 6A1. 1. AND

ATTORNEY United States Patent The present invention relates to a drapery hanger.

-At the present time drapery hangers of which the inventor isfamiliar, are so formed as to slide relative to a traverse track. If the track is not smooth or becomes corroded or rusted the hanger will not slide with the result that the drapery will bunch and not close over a window or other object, or open evenly. Other difiiculties arise when the traverse track must be spliced due to the length thereof as such splice will obstruct movement of a slide. Furthermore, with the average hanger, impaired movement thereof on a traverse track causes wear of the hanger resulting in breakage thereof and consequent release of the drapery held by the hanger. As a rule, the drapery hangers now on the market include a strap to which the drapery is attached and a fixed slide member for movement upon a traverse track. It is evident that if the slide member is prevented from moving easily upon the rail that the slide will be worn and possibly stop movement upon the rail. This is particularly true when the traverse track has curved portions upon which the slide must travel and particularly true when the traverse track has curved portions upon which the slide must travel and particularly true when the drapery held by the hangers is of considerable weight.

An object of my invention is to overcome the difficulties mentioned with common drapery hangers of the type mentioned supra.

A further object is to provide a drapery hanger which will always move to support a drapery on a traverse track and regardless of whether or not the track has corroded, rusted, or has become damaged.

A further object is the provision of a drapery hanger which will roll upon a traverse track to provide easy opening and closing of the drapery and which will travel between spliced tracks with the result that draperies held by the hangers of my invention always gather evenly, do not stack or bunch and present 'a uniform, dressy appearance.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention provides a drapery hanger which is eflicient in operation, inexpensive in cost of manufacture and gen erally superior to drapery hangers now known to the inventor.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of one form of drapery hanger looking in the direction of arrow 1 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the drapery hanger shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a separated vertical sectional view of the drapery hanger of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation of a modified form of hanger looking in the direction of the arrow 4 of FIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the drapery hanger of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a separated vertical sectional view of the hanger shown in FIGURE 5; and,

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary partially sectional view of a curved portion of the traverse track with drapery hangers of the present invention carried thereon.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown in FIG- URES l, 2, and 3 one form of my invention and wherein 1 is a hanger strap; 2 a grooved roller or wheel; and 3 an axle or pin carried by the hanger strap and supporting the roller or wheel 2. The hanger strap 1 is bent to provide two arms 4 and 5 in obtuse angle relationship and the arm 4 has its side edges 6 and 7 diverging outwardly from the bight portion 8 between the arms. The axle 3 is carried by the upper arm 4 and extends outwardly and normally to said arm. As shown, both arms of the hanger strap are formed from flat stock and where the axle joins the arm 4 a boss 9 is provided. The axle 3 provides a cantilever support for the roller or wheel 2, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and preferably the outer end of the axle is formed with a concavity 10 with the axle length from the boss outwardly being of greater dimension than the width of the roller or wheel 2. The axle is characterized in that a suitable peening tool may be inserted in the cavity 10 to upset the end of the axle in the manner shown at 11 and thereby position the wheel between end 11 and the boss 9 to hold the same against displacement from the axle. The arm 5 is provided adjacent its outer end at 12 with a transverse bore whereby a drapery hook may have one leg thereof passed therethrough for holding a section of the drapery to said drapery hanger in such a position that the center of gravity thereof is in alignment with the groove 13 of the wheel or roller. By providing divergent edges 6 and 7, the arm 4, and particularly at the curved portion 14 thereof which joins the edges 6 and 7, is of larger dimension than the diameter of the roller or wheel 2 which assures when the drapery hanger is holding a drapery that the rollers or wheels when pairs of drapery hangers are brought together will not cause coengagement between the wheels but the wheels will be free to rotate while the edges 6 and 7 of one drapery hanger contact the same edges on an adjacent drapery hanger.

Preferably, I form my drapery hanger, as just described for FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, from a suitable plastic such as an acetal resin polymer such as polyoxymethylene which is a polymerization of formaldehyde. A suitable acetal resin polymer is known under the trade name of Delrin, a product of DuPont. This material has strength, resistance to creep, fatigue endurance, toughness, dimensional stability, solvent resistance and abrasion resistance, to name but a few of its attributes. However, I may use other plastics such as nylon and a fluorcarbon known under the trade name of Teflon.

That form of my invention shown in FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 differs from the invention shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 inclusive in that I have used a hanger strap 20 formed of metal which may be steel, aluminum or other material and which has two arms 21 and 22 in obtuse angle relationship, the upper arm 21 being transversely bored to receive a rivet 23 adapted to carry a roller or grooved wheel 24, the wheel of which is provided with a boss at 25 for free engagement with the arm 21 when the roller is carried upon the rivet 23. In this case, the rivet may have the end thereof peened as at 25, to hold the roller upon the rivet, the rivet being provided with a head at 26 for engagement with the arm 21 to hold the rivet in position. The hanger strap may be provided with transverse bores at 27 and 28 for the reception of drapery hooks. It will be noted that the bore at 28 is so positioned as to be in alignment with the groove of wheel 24. The roller 24 may beformed of one of the plastics previously named and the roller is free to rotate upon the rivet.

In FIGURE 7 I have shown a traverse track at 30 and which is curved on a radius at 31. This track may be of the form shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2 at 32 and which form is common in the industry with the hanger of my invention of either form having the roller thereof riding upon a rail 33. Usually the traverse track constitutes a channel member having two aligned and spaced apart rails, as shown at 33 and 34 with the wheel posi- 3 tioned both outwardly and inwardly of the traverse track with the lower rail 33 riding within the groove thereof. As shown in the drawing, the diameter of the wheel 2 or 24 is greater than the spacing between the rails 33 and 34 to prevent escape of the roller from between the rails.

The operation, uses and advantages of my invention are as follows.

According to FIGURE 7, the hanger of my invention and of either form, as shown in the different figures, will readily move upon the curved portion 31 of the traverse track. Usually the curvature while of any radius, has a minimum radius of about 9". If the draperies are high and heavy, with the ordinary type of drapery hook, the negotiating of this curve in the traverse track poses a problem. The tracks are usually formed of aluminum or steel, as stated, and are fastened by brackets to the side walls, to the molding above a window, or from the ceiling. By providing drapery hangers of the types shown in the drawing and wherein I provide rollers or grooved wheels, the wheels of the drapery hangers will readily rotate upon the traverse track and particularly the rail 33 thereof and regardless of whether the track has corroded or rusted. This is impossible of accomplishment with the type of drapery hanger which slides upon a traverse track, as any corrosion or rust gradually cuts through the slide member and releases the same from the hanger strap. As a rule, the drapery hangers which provide a slide member have a slide member of the type which has a flange carried on a tubular pin secured to the hanger strap. Hence, abrasion of the slide member cuts through the tube quite easily.

My construction, for either form of hanger, whether all plastic as shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, or the use of a metal hanger with a plastic roller is easily fabricated with a minimum of expense. The use of a polyoxymethylene such as Delrin is particularly desirable as it molds easily in the formation of the hanger strap with its integral axle and boss portions and allows a cold upsetting of the end of the axle after the roller or wheel 2 is placed thereon by simply peening the concave end of said axle. The Delrin provides a hard smooth surface with the consequence that the roller will move easily on the traverse track.

I claim:

.1. A drapery hanger formed of a plastic material and including a flat hanger strap bent to provide two arms in obtuse angle relationship, one arm formed with an integral axle and with an integral boss portion between the axle and the arm, said other arm of the hanger strap provided with a transverse opening for receiving a drapery hook and a plastic grooved wheel free to rotate on the axle and abutting the boss.

2. The hanger of claim 1, the outer end of the axle formed with a concavity whereby said end may be peened to flare the same.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,566,402 12/1925 Hees 16-4-89 2,654,114 10/ 1953 Graber et al 16 93 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,249,464 11/ 1960 France.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DRAPERY HANGER FORMED OF A PLASTIC MATERIAL AND INCLUDING A FLAT HANGER STRAP BENT TO PROVIDE TWO ARMS IN OBTUSE ANGLE RELATIONSHIP, ONE ARM FORMED WITH AN INTEGRAL AXLE AND WITH AN INTEGRAL BOSS PORTION BETWEEN THE AXLE AND THE ARM, SAID OTHER ARM OF THE HANGER STRAP PROVIDED WITH A TRANSVERSE OPENING FOR RECEIVING A DRAPERY HOOK AND A PLASTIC GROOVED WHEEL FREE TO ROTATE ON THE AXLE AND ABUTTING THE BOSS. 